An astronaut said goodbye to life on the International Space Station today with a cover version of David Bowie’s Space Oddity.

Commander Chris Hadfield, 53, has built up more than 790,000 followers on Twitter by posting photographs of the Earth from space.

But the music video could prove to be his most popular contribution yet.

The Canadian, who flies home as his five-month mission comes to an end, is shown playing an acoustic guitar and singing Bowie’s classic.

He wrote on Twitter: “With deference to the genius of David Bowie, here’s Space Oddity, recorded on Station. A last glimpse of the World.”

Bowie replied: “Hallo Spaceboy.”

Before going into orbit, Hadfield said playing music was important for the “psychological side” of living in space. He sent a message to Sir David Attenborough asking: “If you had an evening there on the space station, how would you spend it?” Sir David replied: “I’d just sit and watch the Earth go by.”